Government is demanding, impossibly so sometimes and more so than ever right now, politicians are human, & renewal in office is the hardest of all. In Scotland, we all have reason to pause and think about how we achieve the quality of law, policy and implentation we need. https://twitter.com/wornoutmumhack/status/1322315491415871488

More and more I have doubts about the weight placed on the committee system in our unicameral chamber, and the use of subject committees to deal with bills. Diligent people end up strung out, and the winner takes all. We should talk about that more.

A lot of civic and parliamentary energy and attention ends up spent on proposals that feel under scoped, however well-intentioned (the hate crime bill mentioned in the article is a good example), because there's not sufficient fear of losing a vote because of that.

The constitutional divide seeps into (almost) everything. The merits and demerits of specific proposals become less and less important. This is not a great environment in which to make good decisions that affect all our lives.

I also think we underestimate how much fear of being asked difficult questions, in public, motivates officials to up their game, on stuff which is not (or should not) be part of political tribalism. Scrutiny beyond party politics really matters for good public administration.

And good public adminstration often what affects our lives for better or worse far more than the subject matter of party politics.

Some examples in article at the top of this thread are constitutionally, even *politically*, neutral: how to improve domestic fire safety, how to (really) reduce physical aggression towards children. Do we really think our system is working as well for these as it should be?